American Classic Car Club Auckland
  • Home
  • Events
  • News
  • Gallery
    • Toy Run - 2 December 2019
    • Christmas picnic in the park - 1 December 2019
    • Tulip Run - 17 November 2019
    • Aroha Cruise-In Saturday October 5th 2019
    • Ross Tebbs Shed Raid - Sunday September 22nd 2019
    • Kaiaua Fish & Chip run - 18 August 2019
    • Clifton Cove Toy Museum - 28 July 2019
    • Mid-winter Xmas - 30 June 2019
    • Ross Bros. Muscle Garage - 18 May 2019
    • Waiau Pa Hop/Hedges Estate - 13 April 2019
    • Chucks Restoration visit - 24 March 2019
    • Rebel Roundup - 16 February 2019
    • Waipu Car & Bike Show - 10 February 2019
    • Ellerslie Classic Car Show - 10 February 2019
    • Kumeu Classic Car & Hot Rod Festival - 19 January 2019
    • Black Swamp Rod Run - 5 January 2019
    • Toy Run Mk.2 - 10 December 2018
    • Xmas picnic in the Park - 9 December 2018
  • Cruisepaper
  • Join us
  • Contact
  • Members only
    • Members contact details
    • Club apparel & badges

Excitement From The Core - Pontiac’s “All-Block” Engines

12/4/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
​When it comes to the great engines that powered the big three’s vintage muscle cars, lines are usually drawn between two camps, big block or small block. With that said, one manufacturer, originally known as GM’s “performance” division, did things a little differently.
Pontiac Motor Division got it’s first V8 rumbling in 1955 and continued building power plants until 1981. During its heyday decades of the ‘60s and ‘70s, all cubic-inch displacement Pontiac V8 motors utilized the same mid-size cast-iron block. A division that would become known for it’s forward thinking vehicle designs also thought out of the box when it came to engine building.
Picture
​Pontiac accomplished this feat of engine efficiency by increasing – or decreasing in some cases – the bore of the cylinders and the piston travel, or “stroke”, creating what they called small or large “journal” engines. The pistons of course, also grew either larger or decreased in size to fit the bore, allowing for multiple cubic-inch displacements from one standard Pontiac block, so technically and actually, there are no big block or small block Poncho motors…ingenious.
Picture
​Small Journal motors like the 326cid, 350cid, the famous 389cid or later 400cid, equipped GTOs and Firebirds, while legendary large journal engines such as the 421cid and 428cid were designated to full-size Pontiacs and were more-often worked-up with stronger internals, cranks, rods, mains, etc, into Super Duty motors mainly for racing.
The most famous large journal engine was the 455cid, which debuted in 1970 and was the last of the factory Super Duty’s, built exclusively for the 1973-’74 SD-455 Trans Am, to many, the last of the original muscle cars. So when someone asks about Pontiac engines, at least now you’ll know, that Pontiac didn’t do big-block/small-block.
Picture
Picture
Picture

Article courtesy of Street Muscle Magazine, written by Andrew Nussbaum.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013

    Categories

    All
    Classics
    Concepts
    Custom
    Hot Rods
    Interesting Stuff